Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble
Encyclopedia
Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble is a contemporary chamber music ensemble based in Boston
, Massachusetts
. The group was founded in 1975 by composers Scott Wheeler
, Rodney Lister, and Ezra Sims
as the concert giving “annex” of New England Dinosaur Dance Theater. The ensemble has been independently incorporated since 1977.
The ensemble is currently directed by Co-Artistic Directors Sue-Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin and Yu-Hui Chang. Current members include Donald Berman, piano; Anne Black, viola/violin; Michael Curry, cello; Diane Heffner, clarinets/sax; Sue-Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin, flute; Katherine V. Matasy, clarinets/sax/accordion; and Robert Schulz, percussion. The groups core musicians perform regularly with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Boston Lyric Opera
, Boston Ballet
, Handel and Haydn
, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, and in Boston’s Broadway theater productions. Notable guest performers and conductors include Gunther Schuller
, Lorraine Hunt
, John Harbison
, D'Anna Fortunato
, Pamela Dellal, and Pascal Verrot.
Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble has commissioned works by a number of composers since the groups establishment in 1975, including Mark Berger
, Martin Boykan
, Dana Brayton, Jeffery Brooks, Richard Busch, Robert Ceely, Shih-Hui Chen, Tamar Deisendruck, Tom Flaherty, Lee Hyla
, David Lang
, Arthur Levering
, Ruth Lomon
, Lansing McLoskey, John McDonald
, Malcolm Peyton, David Rakowski, Laurie San Martin, James Russel Smith, Kurt Stallmann
, Lewis Spratlan
, Peter Van Zandt Lane, Donald Wheelock, and Evan Ziporyn
.
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. The group was founded in 1975 by composers Scott Wheeler
Scott Wheeler (composer)
Scott Wheeler is an American concert-music composer, born February 24, 1952, in Washington, D.C., now based in Boston, Massachusetts. Since 1989, he has been on the faculty of Emerson College in Boston, where he has co-directed the music theater program...
, Rodney Lister, and Ezra Sims
Ezra Sims
Ezra Sims is one of the pioneers in the field of microtonal composition. He invented a system of notation which was adopted by many microtonal composers after him, including Joseph Maneri....
as the concert giving “annex” of New England Dinosaur Dance Theater. The ensemble has been independently incorporated since 1977.
The ensemble is currently directed by Co-Artistic Directors Sue-Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin and Yu-Hui Chang. Current members include Donald Berman, piano; Anne Black, viola/violin; Michael Curry, cello; Diane Heffner, clarinets/sax; Sue-Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin, flute; Katherine V. Matasy, clarinets/sax/accordion; and Robert Schulz, percussion. The groups core musicians perform regularly with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Boston Lyric Opera
Boston Lyric Opera
Boston Lyric Opera is an American opera company based in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1976.Each season, BLO produces three mainstage productions at the Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre in Boston and a fully staged, one-hour English language version of a popular opera for school...
, Boston Ballet
Boston Ballet
Boston Ballet, founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams, was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. Boston Ballet’s national and international reputation developed under the leadership of Artistic Directors Violette Verdy , Bruce Marks , and Anna-Marie Holmes...
, Handel and Haydn
Handel and Haydn Society
The Handel and Haydn Society is an American chorus and period instrument orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1815, it remains one of the oldest performing arts organizations in the United States.-Early history:...
, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, and in Boston’s Broadway theater productions. Notable guest performers and conductors include Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
, Lorraine Hunt
Lorraine Hunt
Lorraine T. Hunt is an American politician. She is the former 32nd Lieutenant Governor of the U.S. State of Nevada, serving from 1999 to 2007...
, John Harbison
John Harbison
John Harris Harbison is an American composer, best known for his operas and large choral works.-Life:...
, D'Anna Fortunato
D'Anna Fortunato
D'Anna Fortunato is a noted American mezzo-soprano. Among her teachers were Phyllis Curtin and Gladys Childs Miller...
, Pamela Dellal, and Pascal Verrot.
Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble has commissioned works by a number of composers since the groups establishment in 1975, including Mark Berger
Mark Berger
Professor Mark C. Berger , was the director of The Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Kentucky until his death at age 47. He was also a Fullbright Scholar at University College Dublin. In the 1970s, Berger was a member of the Professional Putters of America...
, Martin Boykan
Martin Boykan
Martin Boykan was born on April 12, 1931 in New York City. He is an American composer known for his chamber music as well as music for larger ensembles. He married the silverpoint artist Susan Schwalb in 1983.-Biography:...
, Dana Brayton, Jeffery Brooks, Richard Busch, Robert Ceely, Shih-Hui Chen, Tamar Deisendruck, Tom Flaherty, Lee Hyla
Lee Hyla
Lee Hyla is an American classical music composer.Lee Hyla was born in Niagara Falls, New York, and grew up in Greencastle, Indiana...
, David Lang
David Lang (composer)
David Lang is an American composer living in New York City. He was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Music for The Little Match Girl Passion.-Biography:...
, Arthur Levering
Arthur Levering
Arthur Levering is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He currently resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Rome, Italy....
, Ruth Lomon
Ruth Lomon
A native of Montreal, Canada, Ruth Lomon attended le Conservatoire de Quebec and McGill University. She continued her studies with Francis Judd Cooke at the New England Conservatory of Music and later with Witold Lutosławski at Dartington College in England.Since 1998, Ms...
, Lansing McLoskey, John McDonald
John McDonald
John McDonald may refer to:*John McDonald , businessman and political figure in Upper Canada and Canada West*John McDonald , member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1911–1914...
, Malcolm Peyton, David Rakowski, Laurie San Martin, James Russel Smith, Kurt Stallmann
Kurt Stallmann
Stallmann Kurt is an American composer who lives and works in Houston, Texas.-Education:Kurt Stallmann was born in Rockford, Illinois. In 1987, he received a bachelor's degree in music from Northern Illinois University. That same year, he reolocated to Boston, Massachusetts where he composed,...
, Lewis Spratlan
Lewis Spratlan
M. Lewis Spratlan Jr. is an American music academic and composer of contemporary classical music.Born in Miami, Florida, Spratlan played the oboe as a youth. He attended Yale University and was a student of Mel Powell and Gunther Schuller...
, Peter Van Zandt Lane, Donald Wheelock, and Evan Ziporyn
Evan Ziporyn
Evan Ziporyn is an American composer of post-minimalist music and music for Balinese gamelans. He plays the clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone, and metallophone, borrowing from classical music, avant-garde, and jazz...
.
Discography
- Peter Homans, A Prague Spring, 2007 (MMC)
- Donald Martino, Quintino, 2007 (Navona)
- Martin Boykan, Piano Trio no. 2, 1999 (CRI)
- Martin Boykan, Flume, 2002 (CRI)
- Lee Hyla, String Trio, 1983 (CRI)
- Ian Krouse, Tientos, 1997 (Koch International)
- Arthur Levering, Still Raining, Still Dreaming, 2005 (New World)
- Arthur Levering, School of Velocity, 1994 (CRI)
- Scott Lindroth, Human Gestures, 1998 (CRI)
- David Liptak, Ancient Songs, 2004 (Bridge)
- Malcolm Peyton, Songs from T. Sturge Moore (Centuar)
- Ezra Sims, Come Away, 1986 (CRI)
- Ezra Sims, Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, 1991 (CRI)
- Robert Sirota, Seven Pocassos, 1988 (Capstone)
- Dinosaur Annex: Thirty Years of Adventure, 1975–2005